Minneapolis, St. Paul police both investigating deaths from Sunday night

Late last week, Minneapolis Police Chief Janeé Harteau said she was concerned about the the recent violence in the city after three people were killed in a span of a few days.

At the same time, St. Paul police were investigating two deaths just blocks apart, both within a 24-hour span of one another.

Over the weekend, two more people were killed, and if both are ruled homicides it would bring the number of suspected slayings in the past week to seven.

Minneapolis

Minneapolis police were called to the 3700 block of First Avenue South around 10 p.m. Sunday for a report of shots fired, according to the Minneapolis Police Department. There, they found an adult male with gunshot wounds lying in the alley.

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The victim was taken to Hennepin County Medical Center, but died from his injuries Monday morning.

The suspect fled the scene before police arrived, according to the release.

The department says officers and detectives are going through the neighborhood and talking to residents, and patrols to the area will soon be increased.

Anyone with information is asked to call CrimeStoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or send an anonymous tip to CRIMES (274637) and begin the message with: TIP674.

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It's the fourth suspected homicide in the city since Tuesday:

– Jessica Denise St. Marie, 28, of Wadena, was fatally shot at a bus stop along East Lake Street Tuesday. A 50-year-old male was arrested Saturday.

– Elija Doentae Larkin, 19, of Minneapolis, was killed outside New Bethel Baptist Church in north Minneapolis Wednesday evening.

– And 16-year-old Tyrone Rice Jr. was shot in the head while sitting in a parked car on Lyndale Avenue in North Minneapolis Thursday, MPR News reports. He died Friday; nobody is in custody as of Monday morning.

The common link in many of the homicides, she says, is people "using guns in the heat of the moment to settle their personal disputes, making it virtually impossible for police to predict or prevent these acts."

Steve Linders with the St. Paul Police Department said they would be taking officers from specialty units and moving them to areas of the city where there's been more activity, the Pioneer Press reports.